


last night, first dawn

by fallenidol_453



Series: non-linear [5]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Don't copy to another site, M/M, No Sex, Wedding Night, i wrote this in one sitting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28059429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallenidol_453/pseuds/fallenidol_453
Summary: The future is shrouded with so many shadowed corners that Byleth isn't sure where to take the first step.
Relationships: Linhardt von Hevring/My Unit | Byleth
Series: non-linear [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1915867
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	last night, first dawn

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the rights to the Fire Emblem series. Any mistakes to canon is entirely my fault.

They lay side by side in bed, inside a borrowed palace suite, the fire light reduced to mere embers. Byleth’s mind raced in too many directions: he and Linhardt were privately married mere hours ago. They had one week to themselves before starting their mission to eliminate those who slither in the dark. Linhardt’s father had happily welcomed Byleth as a new member of the family, but he had wanted Linhardt to return home and take over his responsibilities as heir to House Hevring.

It was apparently an obligation five years in the making, which Edelgard’s war against the Church of Seiros had put on hold. Byleth had had no knowledge of this, and Linhardt had never brought it up during their relationship and engagement. Besides, with the social structure utterly upended with Edelgard’s planned reforms, it didn’t seem important.

Except his new father-in-law thought it was.

The future is shrouded with so many shadowed corners that Byleth isn't sure where to take the first step. He lifted an arm to cover his eyes, but accidentally bumped Linhardt in the process. He froze, then inhaled sharply as Linhardt rolled over onto his side to face him.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked quietly.

“I—well—” Byleth’s throat went dry. “Too many thoughts about what’s going to happen. I thought you’d be asleep by now.”

“Are you worried about what my father wants?” Linhardt inquired.

Byleth reluctantly nodded. “I know it’s… going to interfere with our mission. I don’t think your father knows about it yet. What if…”

He found himself cut off as Linhardt yawned and reached down to squeeze Byleth’s hand gently.

“My father’s waited five years, he can wait another five. Or however long this takes,” he stated. “You are _not_ going off to face those who slither in the dark alone.”

Byleth interlaced his fingers better with Linhardt’s and squeezed his hand back. He was glad Linhardt wasn’t going to obey his father’s demands immediately, if ever. But—

“Do you _want_ to succeed your father?” he asked. Linhardt snorted.

“Not really, I never cared about ruling the Hevring territory,” he replied blithely. “I always hated sitting in meetings with my parents with the other lords and the mining families.” Byleth had a funny mental image of Linhardt sleeping through the meetings _just_ like he slept through his lectures at Garreg Mach. “…but as the only child of my parents, I do have that obligation to do it anyway. But if I was given an opportunity to abandon my responsibilities, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

Byleth was… glad he had not been born a noble. Life in his father’s mercenary group had been hard and dangerous, but it had been… freer. He doubted he’d been able to deal with the customs and duties Linhardt had grown up with from birth as the heir to the Hevring family line. But instead of echoing those thoughts, he cleared his throat instead.

“I’m sure your father would have a fit of apoplexy if you ever suggested doing that.”

“This is not the first time I’ve threatened to disinherit myself,” Linhardt countered. “Both of my parents are used to my threats.”

Threats? Multiple threats of deliberate disinheriting? Byleth raised an eyebrow in curiosity but opted to not press the… issue. Those were stories for another time.

A long stretch of silence followed. Linhardt let go of Byleth’s hand and cuddled closer, slowly putting an arm around Byleth’s middle. Byleth tensed, very acutely aware of how close Linhardt was, but he forced himself to relax. They had napped together before, but they’d been leaning against each other, sometimes holding hands. This type of casual… intimacy in bed was probably normal for lovers and married couples, Byleth just wasn’t accustomed to it. He had been so busy during the war that… well, there were subtle jokes among other soldiers that he needed to relax. Or get laid. They’d never been said to his face, but the sentiment was obvious. He had never been very comfortable with casual hookups, anyway.

But that was in the past. And the jokes, if they were still being passed around, were bound to cease once word of his marriage spread, though he and Linhardt were the farthest thing from sexually involved right now.

He very privately hoped no one was listening on the other side of the door.

“Are you still awake?” Linhardt asked. Byleth gave a small start and turned to face him.

“…Yes,” he replied guiltily.

“I feel sorry for any partner you had during the war, you must have driven them insane with your all-nighters planning battle tactics and troop movements,” Linhardt teased gently.

“I… never had any. Relationships. During the war,” Byleth admitted.

Linhardt instantly looked contrite. “I’m sorry, that was in bad taste.”

“It’s… fine. This… kind of intimacy…” Byleth used his free hand to gesture vaguely between them. “It’s new for me.”

Linhardt leaned forward to kiss him.

“We have time,” he whispered after pulling away. “Now _please_ try to sleep, or I’ll make you take a nap with me tomorrow.”

“That doesn’t sound like much of a threat.”

Linhardt poked him in the ribs. Byleth stifled a laugh as he closed his eyes. After listening to his husband’s deep, steady breathing for a while—how Linhardt fell asleep so deeply and so quickly was probably going to be mystery he’ll never solve—he finally relaxed enough to fall asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Do not look for sense in the title, I came up with it on the fly and it stuck.


End file.
